US startups

Homeward, a real estate startup that helps homeowners buy and sell homes more quickly, has raised $120 million in new funding, according to a report by Crunchbase News. The round comes as the US housing market slows, with high mortgage rates making transactions harder, positioning the company to serve owners seeking faster deals.

A US startup has decided to base its operations in Changzhou, China, rather than in Kentucky, according to reports circulating online. The choice of a Chinese city over a US location for an American company has drawn attention, with commentary focusing on what it says about costs, supply chains and the competitiveness of US manufacturing locations.

Health insurance startup Devoted Health has raised $1.2 billion in new funding as it moves to scale up its business. The company, which sells Medicare Advantage plans, is one of the larger fundraising rounds in the insurance technology sector this year. The round underscores continued investor interest in startups challenging legacy US health insurers.

A startup is seeking approval to place more than 450 small nuclear reactors on public land in Utah, with the sole purpose of powering a large data center complex. The proposal stands out for its sheer scale, far beyond any existing deployment, and would tie a massive computing facility directly to new nuclear generation in the US West.

FedEx has placed an order worth more than $300 million with Harbinger for 2,000 electric delivery trucks. The deal marks a significant commitment to electrifying the company's fleet, and underscores growing demand for commercial electric vehicles from US startups. It is one of the larger electric truck orders in the logistics sector to date.

A Texas startup has been awarded a contract by the US Department of Defense to recover scandium, a rare metal used in aerospace and defense manufacturing. The deal supports US efforts to secure domestic supply chains for critical minerals, most of which are currently sourced abroad. Further details on the contract's value and scope have not been reported.

An Austin-based startup specializing in counter-drone technology has won a $500 million contract from the US Army, beating out stiff competition from other defense contractors. The deal underscores growing Pentagon investment in systems designed to detect and neutralize hostile drones, a priority driven by drone threats seen in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey are set to advise the US government on the future of warfare, according to Engadget. Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and Luckey, founder of defense startup Anduril and creator of the Oculus Rift, will bring private-sector perspectives on military technology to government decision-making. The pairing of two prominent figures from the commercial tech and defense industries is drawing attention to the growing role of Silicon Valley in national security policy.

A drone startup with ties to Donald Trump's sons is planning to bring Ukrainian drone technology to the United States. The venture, which has drawn coverage from multiple US and international outlets, aims to adapt combat-tested Ukrainian drone systems for American use. Ukraine's drones have gained prominence during the war with Russia, and the company's political connections are drawing attention to the deal.

LG Energy Solution and US battery startup indiGOtech have agreed to collaborate on the supply of 46-series cylindrical battery cells, according to an announcement reported by Korean industry outlet The Elec. The partnership pairs the world's second-largest EV battery maker with an American newcomer focused on large-format cylindrical cells, a form factor increasingly used in electric vehicles. Details on volumes and timing were not disclosed in the initial report.

A US federal appeals court has ruled in favour of Thomson Reuters in its copyright lawsuit against legal research startup ROSS Intelligence. The Third Circuit's decision marks a significant development in the long-running dispute over whether ROSS unlawfully copied content from Thomson Reuters' Westlaw legal research database to build its competing AI-powered legal search product, with implications for copyright law and AI training data.